Animated Animals: Allegories of Transformation in Khumba

Abstract

The South African 3D computer animated children’s film Khumba (2013), featuring the star voices of, among others, Richard E. Grant and Liam Neeson, in an exemplary way embodies the tensions between indigenous, localised narration, and the generic conventions established by commercialised, global media. Set in the Karoo, and featuring a cast of African animals, the film traces the adventures of a young zebra who is born with aberrant stripe coloration, and is rejected by his herd. The film references local environmental concerns and indigenous knowledge, but also draws much narrative material from Disney’s Lion King. The article furthermore suggests that many of the questions that trouble post-transition South Africa concerning transformation, belonging and racial identity, are allegorised in the film’s feel-good storyline.